Almond Shortbread

I have a terrible weakness for the rich, buttery taste of good shortbread, most recently, for Almond Shortbread. I taught Sunday School for years and each Christmas, the Mom of one of the families in the church made each teacher a lovely little shortbread cake. They were about 6 inches across with golden edges and little holes all over the top. Once all 3 of that family’s kids had gone through my 1st and 2nd grade class, I just happened to move into the Junior High class, which meant I got to enjoy 3 more Christmases with Darcy’s yummy shortbread.

And even though I was the Superintendent, and in charge of assigning teachers to classes, I’m sure her shortbread had no influence on what class I taught – that just wouldn’t be right, now would it? I preferred to think of it as divine intervention.

I rarely make shortbread myself – not because it’s difficult, but rather because it is too easy, and way too fattening. I ran across a mention of using almond flour in cookies, and I thought that it might be good in shortbread too. It turned out to be a very good idea. Can you blame me if I ended up making 4 batches, to get it “perfected”? I have to make such sacrifices for you guys, you know?

In any case, shortbread is very easy to make, and if you have a stand mixer, it is easier yet. I like to make it in a tart pan, and mine is 11 inches across – this one,from Fat Daddio. If you don’t have a tart pan, you could use a couple of 8 or 9 inch pie plates, though the cakes will be a little thinner and will be done about 5 minutes earlier than the time I give below.

Almond flour is pretty widely available in grocery and health food stores, but if you can’t find near you, this kind from Amazon is nice. I keep almond – and all nut flours – in the freezer because they tend to go rancid pretty quickly, and the freezer keeps them nice and fresh. As for the sliced almonds, I like to buy hem in bulk because they are cheaper that way, and these Mariani Sliced Premium Almonds are always good.

Add the flour, almond flour, corn starch and salt, and mix just until well incorporated.

Pat evenly into the tart pan - if the dough is sticking to your fingers, wet them.

Spread the almonds over the top and press in lightly.

Use a fork or chopstick to make holes a couple inches apart all over the top. Sprinkle on the sugar.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until puffed and browned.

Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes and remove carefully from the pan.

Cut into wedges to serve. Store tightly covered for up to a week at room temperature, or longer in the refrigerator.

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Once it is ready to eat, you will be faced with a terrible dilemma – do you keep it all for yourself, or give it away for gifts, as you had planned? There is only one solution to that though – you are going to have to make more!

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I love shortbread! And it’s really too bad about that fattening aspect, because it’s so good. But it’s an occasional treat for us, too. This looks stupendous – love the addition of the almond. Truly nice – thanks.